A shoulder injury is an especially debilitating condition that can make it difficult to function until it heals properly. At MCR Chiropractic in Massachusetts, we offer a variety of non-invasive treatment options to relieve your shoulder pain, restore your range of motion, and improve your body’s natural ability to heal itself. Read on to learn more about what causes shoulder pain and how we can help relieve it!

Common Conditions That Cause Shoulder Pain 

Many injuries can cause you to suffer from extreme shoulder pain. A broken collarbone, fractured shoulder blade, dislocation, tendon tear, or a similar serious injury could take weeks or even months to heal properly. A torn rotator cuff is exceptionally painful and could make it impossible to lift one arm or move one of your shoulders without enduring a lot of pain.

Bursitis, arthritis, tendonitis, a frozen shoulder, or a shoulder separation are other conditions that could result in a lot of pain and reduced use of one of your shoulders. Fortunately, there are many effective treatments that a chiropractor could use to relieve your shoulder pain and prevent it from returning in the future.

The Neck’s Role in Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain could come from the shoulder joint itself or could actually stem from the surrounding ligaments and tendons, such as the tissues in the neck and upper back. The neck and shoulder are closely connected via nerve pathways, so when an injury occurs, the brain can’t always reliably track the pain back to the actual source. This means that something could be wrong with your neck, but pain signals are being sent to your shoulder. Here are some ways to tell the difference.

When the shoulder is most likely the cause, the pain:

• Is stabbing, burning, or tingling, but could be achy
• Happens when you reach overhead or behind your back
• Occurs when lifting objects
• Is felt in the upper arm, but not past the elbow
• Improves with rest

When the neck is the most likely cause, the pain:

• Is stabbing, burning, or tingling
• Radiates past your elbow or into your hand
• Persists even when resting
• Radiates down your arm when you move your neck
• Is relieved when you support your neck

The muscles, ligaments, and tendons that make up the rotator cuff give stability to the shoulder joint. However, the larger muscles in your shoulders, back, and neck support these smaller muscles within the rotator cuff to ensure they function properly.

Due to our sedentary lifestyles and extended time looking down at our phones and computers, these muscles in the back are often weaker than the muscles in the front of our body. Poor posture weakens the muscles that support the rotator cuff, then the rotator cuff can’t effectively do its job, causing pain and stiffness. Also, this poor posture throws off the balance of the muscles around our spine and can result in neck pain, which can radiate to the shoulders.

How Our Chiropractors Can Help

Our skilled chiropractors will provide a combination of effective treatments that help to reduce shoulder pain while speeding up the natural healing process. Our chiropractor will assess your entire musculoskeletal system to determine the root cause of your pain and immobility before creating a chiropractic care plan to address it. A few different ways chiropractors may treat your shoulder pain:

• Spinal Adjustment – Applies pressure or force to joints and tissues that have become inflamed or restricted. This process restores the spine’s natural alignment, which may be contributing to discomfort or irregularity in your ligaments, muscles, or joints.
• Extremity Adjustment – Not only can your chiropractor adjust your spine, but they can adjust your shoulders, arms, elbow, wrists, and hands. This will restore joint mobility, reduce inflammation, and improve muscle function to keep your neck and shoulders loose and pain-free.
• Manual Therapy – Myofascial release and trigger point therapy techniques can help to focus the treatments on the damaged soft tissue and help to provide general relief from inflammation that causes pain. A few examples are Active Release Technique (ART) and Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM).

Other treatments including stretching, strength training, and electrical stimulation may also be incorporated into your treatment plan.

READ OUR APRIL NEWSLETTER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SHOULDER PAIN

Start Chiropractic Care To Shut Out Shoulder Pain  

If you or someone that you know is suffering from shoulder pain due to one or more injuries, MCR Chiropractic can help. Your chiropractor will work with you to get the root cause of your pain and put together a long-term solution to keep you out of pain. Our non-invasive healing techniques help to provide you with natural pain relief while enhancing your body’s natural healing powers so that you can get better faster.

Call your nearest MCR Chiropractic today or fill out the form below to request an appointment.